Uconn

Cleaveland: Huskies rely on Big Three to rise to the top By Roger Cleaveland Republican-American

Connecticut forward Morgan Tuck (3) battles to the net against St. John's forward Amber Thompson (2) during the second half of their NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, at St. John's University in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

JAMAICA, N.Y. -- UConn's 71-65 victory over St. John's on Saturday was much different than most of the Huskies' wins this season, but ultimately the same recurring theme came out of the game: The trio of Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, Kelly Faris and Stefanie Dolson will determine the success of this team.

That's not a great secret, but it became glaringly obvious how important all three are as the Huskies rallied to earn a difficult win at Lou Carnesecca Arena. UConn had lost its last five games that were decided by single digits or had gone to overtime, but Saturday the Huskies finally showed resiliency and pulled out a victory.

Getting 21 points from Shenneika Smith, 17 from Aliyyah Handord and 16 from Briana Brown, St. John's (10-10) led by as many as six points, 45-39, in the second half and was still tied, 57-57, with 4:34 to play.

UConn (20-1) even trailed with only 6:09 left un-

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til Faris hit a 3-pointer to give the Huskies a 55-53 lead. Starting with that basket, Faris and Mosqueda-Lewis combined to score the next 15 UConn points with Faris tallying eight and Mosqueda-Lewis seven to put the Huskies up, 67-60, with a minute to go.

Mosqueda-Lewis finished with her first double-double of the season and only the second of her career with team-highs of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Faris ended up with 17 points with three 3-pointers including two in the final 6:07, and the 100th 3-pointer of her career.

Faris has been more inconsistent than you would expect from her this season, but she has come up big when the team really needed her. After standing around far too much in the first half and hearing about it from Auriemma, she scored 13 of her points and had all five of her rebounds in the second half to give the team a huge boost.

"I definitely had a different mind-set, especially down toward the end of the game," Faris said. "I was trying to get Kaleena the ball as much as I could because she was pretty much dominating or getting to the free throw line. But eventually they're going to catch on to that and they did. I think I got a wide-open 3. I think (Morgan) Tuck might have set the screen for me. So there were a lot of people who stepped up and did some little things that in the end made a difference."

Mosqueda-Lewis, the nation's 3-point field goal percentage leader (50.8) going into the game, scored her final seven points on a traditional 3-point play with a layup and a foul. She also drew two other fouls posting up and cutting hard to the basket to earn four more free throws. In the process, she set season-highs for made free throws (six) and free throws attempted (seven).

"Sometimes I am guilty of not trying harder to get certain people more shots," Auriemma said. "We made a concerted effort to try to get Kaleena more involved, and I need to get her even more involved. I don't think 11 shots is enough for her in a game. I think every game she should (take) 15 (shots) and above."

In last year's loss to St. John's that snapped UConn's 99-game home winning streak, Mosqueda-Lewis shot 3-of-12 to score 12 points. As she has been most of this season, she was much more composed Saturday.

"Obviously, she has always had the talent," Faris said. "She got smarter and smarter throughout last year, but I could tell coming in over the summer that she had a completely different mind-set. She felt what it was like to come up short, and if you are the right type of person, that will rub you the wrong way. I think it did."

Dolson's importance was crystallized Saturday by her absence. She didn't play after exhibiting flu-like symptoms Saturday morning, and the Huskies struggled to get any offensive flow without her. She not only leads the nation in field-goal percentage (61.2) but she is also the team's third-leading scorer (13.8) and is second on the team in assists with 65.

"A huge portion of our offense runs through Stefanie," Auriemma said. "People keep talking about you don't have a true point guard, so to speak, like St. John's has (in Nadirah McKenith, eight assists). That kid is a really good point guard. We don't have anybody like that right now, so that is why we use Stefanie as kind of our point guard. That is a credit to her, and how much she had made herself a big part in what we are doing and how invaluable she is."

In her absence, Kiah Stokes struggled initially in her first career start. She settled down, however, and in the final 1:16 of the game made a pair of free throws and had two rebounds and an assist. She finished with seven points, four rebounds and two blocks. Tuck finished with seven points and five rebounds.

They showed promise. But the promise of a national championship can only be delivered if Mosqueda-Lewis, Faris and Dolson all continue to play well.

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